BNP TO FIGHT FOR DISTRICT SEAT IN ELECTION

EXCLUSIVE BY DAVE SMITH THE British National Party (BNP) intends to canvass in the Wokingham area after revealing plans to put forward a candidate in one of the district's wards at the forthcoming May elections.

Mike Kent, a spokesman for the BNP, said a branch was established in Reading about a year ago and he confirmed the party's plans to stand for election in the Twyford and Ruscombe ward in May.

Mr Kent said: "If we can get candidates to come forward we will stand anywhere. We really do intend to cover the entire area.

"This election has sadly come to soon for us."

Stephen Conway, Lib Dem district councillor for Twyford and Ruscombe, said leaflets had been put through the doors of houses in different parts of Twyford at night.

He said there were two leaflets being distributed, one of which claims the BNP as "the true party of law and order".

Cllr Conway said: "They are playing on people's fears about crime. Most of the things they are saying are utterly irrelevant to the local council's activities.

"A lot of the issues they are highlighting so far are issues relating to national policies and the laws of the land."

He added that crime was already being addressed in the area.

"We, as sitting councillors, are trying to tackle it by working with the police, installing CCTV and doing something practical.

"These people are just trying to frighten residents."

He urged people not to be influenced by the material.

He said: "I hope the people of Twyford and Ruscombe will not be taken in by the BNP because its message is still very much one of racial hatred in the background."

He added: "They are introducing a kind of poison into the politics of Twyford but most people will not want to touch them at all."

Cllr Conway thought the party may be preparing for the local elections in May.

"The real reason they've chosen Twyford is that they may have a person willing to stand as a candidate there.

"What they could be doing is to see how many people respond to the leaflets — they may be testing the water at this stage."

Mr Kent dismissed claims that he or any of his colleagues were racist, or that the party was spreading "poison".

He said: "There is a serious problem in this country with law and order and immigration.

"The country has lost control of its borders. All we are asking is to take back control."

He claimed most people entering Britain were "economic immigrants" who were "abusing the system".

However, one Twyford resident, who admitted he had lost patience with a Labour Government and a Conservative-run council, said: "I would not particularly like them to get involved because they are just too extreme for my liking."